Boosting Sports Kids’ Confidence What’s one of the most important things adults can do to boost young athletes’ confidence? They should help build a positive team culture, says Danny Cullinane, a coach and sports parent in England who lectures about sports development. He should know. He’s charged with the job … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Help Sports Kids Improve Confidence When it comes to confidence, kids can be their own worst enemies. That’s because they hang onto thoughts that hurt their confidence and performance—not understanding, of course, that they’re undermining their experience in sports. For example, they may constantly berate themselves by telling themselves they’re … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Keeping Sports Kids Focused During Holidays Parents, the holidays can be a distraction for sports kids—and that can hurt their focus and performance. Distractions can include thoughts or worries about holiday parties, dances, or other events. All this can create stress and tension in young athletes. As sports parents, you … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Kids Who Compare Their Skills to Others This holiday season, it’s a great idea to teach sports kids to focus on what they have to be thankful for–their positive experiences, physical assets, and mental game strengths, to name just a few. While they’re doing this, they need to understand that … Read Sport Psychology Tip
What Should Sports Parents Do About Bullying? When a 15-year-old soccer player is verbally humiliated by a coach in front of his peers during a soccer tournament, and then decides to pack up and leave the tournament, what should other parents do? A sports mom wrote us recently to say … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Tips To Help Sports Kids in Games In many ways, it makes sense that we often see mayhem on the sidelines during youth sporting events, says Brian Swarz, a coach, ref and umpire who has seen a lot of youth sports games. First of all, many of the coaches are … Read Sport Psychology Tip